Replaceable heel



Dec. 28, 1965 J. MILK ETAL 3,225,466

REPLACEABLE HEEL Filed Aug. 14, 1964 gi-l M ff''' INVENTOR-S.

United States Patent O 3,225,466 REPLACEABLE MEL James Milk and Theodore Pallow, both of R0. Box 9901, Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed Aug. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 389,755 Claims. (Cl. 36-42) This invention relates to a replaceable heel, and more particularly to a shoe construction having a readily attachable and detachable heel which permits the user to discard a worn heel section and replace it with a new heel as the need dictates.

In the conventional shoe construction, the heel, which is the most prone portion of the shoe to wear, is iixedly secured to the remainder of the shoe. In order to service the shoe, it is necessary to pull the worn section of heel away, this being a relatively diicult operation since the heel is fastened by nails or the like fasteners which make it diicult to pull the heel off of the shoe against the resistance of the fasteners. Shoe repairing operation, in the form of heel replacement is, therefore, a relatively difficult and time consuming operation which entails tearing of the worn part away from the shoe and nailing a replacement heel in its place.

One of the objects of the present invention is to simplify the repair operation and provide an attachment which is secured to the shoe and which is adapted for threadedly receiving a heel thereon, the heel being thereby readily securable to the shoe and subsequently removed, when worn, to provide a replacement heel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heel construction which is reliably locked in place on the shoe and is not easily dislodged or removed while in service but which can nevertheless be removed at the time of servicing the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment member which is nailed or otherwise fastened permanently to the shoe and forms an attachment surface for locking the heel onto the shoe.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a combination threaded connection and locking me-ans which are cooperative with a replaceable heel so as to attach the heel to the shoe.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide bonding means between adjoining surfaces of the heel and the attachment means as well as between the attachment means and the shoe thereby reliably and securely connecting the portions of the shoe together.

The foregoing objects and features of the invention, together with additional objects and features, will become apparent from a consideration of the following description which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, Wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded view of a shoe, attachment and replaceable heel;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of the assembled heel, looking in the direction of the arrows 2 2 of FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 3 illustrates -a view of the shoe attachment looking in the direction of the arrows 3 3 in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged side elevational detail view of the attachment and metal retention ring;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged side elevational detail View of the heel which is attachable and detachable to the shoe through the attachment illustrated in FIGURE 4; and,

FIGURE 6 is a metal ring which is secured to the attachment and serves as a locking means to retain said heel.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG- URE 1 a shoe 10 having the usual sole 12 and heel section 14 adapted to receive an attachment structure 16. The attachment device 16 is secured by nails 18 to the underside of the sole 14 and its surface 20 is bonded to the surface 22. The attachment is thus comprised of both mechanical secured and chemical bonding to the undersurface of the shoe 10 at its heel section 14. Projecting from the attachment 20 is an externally threaded boss 26 with helical threads 27 formed integrally with the boss 26.

At the end 28 of boss 26 is a metal retention ring 30 having prongs 32 which are nailed into the end 28 of the lboss 26. At the other side of the metal retention ring are a number of locking ngers 34 which lock within socket 36 of a replaceable heel section 38 having thread 40 which matches with the helical threads 2'7 of attachment 16. The heel section 38 is retained on the boss 26 and serves both as a cushion, and as the ground-engaging heel. The surface 42 is wearable and when the heel section 38 is completely used, it is then discarded and a replacement heel section installed in its place.

In operation, the attachment 16 is secured by nails 18 to the sole 14, the nails being passed through a series of holes 44. The surface 20 is covered with a bonding agent of some suitable composition and which is effective for securing the 'attachment to the shoe by that means as well as the nails 18. The attachment has a threaded boss 26 formed integrally with the attachment and a metal retention ring 30 is nailed permanently to the end of the boss through prongs 32 which penetrate the end of the threaded boss 26 land are mechanically fixed to said boss.

The heel 38 is then screw-fitted to the boss 26 and the locking fingers or projections 34- embed themselves within the socket 36 of the heel 38, mechanically locking said heel to the boss 26 and holding it in place. If desired, the surface 48 may be covered with a bonding agent which adheres to the opposing surface 50 of the attachment 16.

The shoe is thus usable with the heel member 33 until it becomes sutiiciently worn to require replacement, at which time the heel 38 is counter-rotated on the boss 26, threadedly disengaging from the boss Z6 and a replacement heel 38 is installed in its place.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with certain selected example embodiments, it will be understood that these are illustrative and in no sense restrictive thereof. It is reasonably to be expected that those skilled in this art can make numerous revisions and adaptations of the invention to meet individual design requirements and it is intended that such revisions and adaptations as incorporate the herein disclosed principles will be included within the scope of the following claims as equivalents of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe construction having a replaceable heel adapted for readily mounting and demounting operations, comprising: a mounting means adapted for securement with the sole of the shoe at the heel section thereof, a threaded projection extending perpendicularly from said mounting means, an annular member including a plurality of spaced nailing elements adapted to penetrate and thereby become secured to said threaded elements and including a plurality of spaced struck sections which are offset from the plane of said annular member, and a heel having a threaded socket which receives said threaded projection and is adapted to lockingly engage with said offset portions and said heel is fully threaded onto said projection.

2. A shoe construction adapted for use with a readily mounted and demounted heel which permits heel replacement to service the shoe, comprising: a ilat base adapted to lie in ilat facial engagement with the heel portion of the outsole of the shoe, means for permanently securing said dat base to said outsole for permanent connection therewith, a threaded boss projecting transversely from said flat base, means forming a metal locking ring including circumferentially spaced nailing elements which penetrate the end of said threaded boss and are secured thereto, and a plurality of spaced laterally oiset locking elements which are circumferentially spaced and are struck from said locking ring, and a replaceable heel having a threaded socket which threadedly receives and is detachably secured thereto, said locking elements being in locking engagement with the base of the socket in said replaceable heel to yieldably resist its unthreading movement.

3. A shoe construction adapted for use with a readily mounted and demounted heel which permits heel replacement to service the shoe, comprising: a flat base adapted to lie in flat facial engagement with the heel portion of the outsole of the shoe, means for permanently securing said at base to said outsole for permanent connection therewith, a threaded boss projecting transversely from said'at base, means forming a metal locking ring including circumferentially spaced nailing elements which penl etrate the end of said threaded boss and are secured thereto, and a plurality of spaced laterally offset locking elements which are circumferentially spaced and are struck from said locking ring, a replaceable heel having a threaded socket which threadedly receives said boss and is detachably secured thereto, said locking elements being in locking engagement with the base of the socket in said replaceable heel to yieldably resist its unthreading movement, and means for bonding the adjacent surface of said shoe and said base.

4. A shoe construction having a replaceable heel, comprising: a mounting base which is ixedly secured to the outsole of said shoe, a threaded projection which extends transversely from said element, locking means including integral spaced nails which are driven into said projection and are secured thereto, a plurality of spaced resilient projections which form raised sections of said locking means and are oriented to include unidirectional locking eiort, and a replaceable heel having a threaded socket which receives said threaded projection and is engageable with said locking elements at the base of said socket in threaded relation with said heel to resist unlocking movement thereof, said locking elements being yieldably depressed upon engagement with the base of said socket as said heel is screwed in a threading direction about said projection and into its operative position to be fully joined to said threaded projection.

5. A shoe construction having a replaceable heel adapted for convenient mounting and demounting operations, following wear thereof comprising: means forming a mounting attachment at the rear portion of said shoe and having securing means for permanent attachment to the shoe, threaded means extending from said attachment, locking means connected with said mounting attachment and including a plurality of spaced deformable locking elements which resist relative movement about said threaded means in one direction, a replaceable heel having a threaded socket threadedly receiving said threaded means and including a surface which is complementary with said locking elements and yieldably engageable therewith to resist unthreading movement when said heel is fully installed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,393,784 10/1921 Iannelle 36-36 1,430,168 9/1922 Iannelle 36--36 X 1,994,013 3/1935 Christensen 36--36 2,990,627 7/1961 Stubbe 36-35 3,063,168 11/1962 Cortina 36-36 FOREIGN PATENTS 966,462 3/1950 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

FRANK J. COHEN, Examiner. 

1. A SHOE CONSTRUCTION HAVING A REPLACEABLE HEEL ADAPTED FOR READILY MOUNTING AND DEMOUNTING OPERATIONS, COMPRISING: A MOUNTING MEANS ADAPTED FOR SECUREMENT WITH THE SOLE OF THE SHOE AT THE HEEL SECTION THEREOF, A THREADED PROJECTION EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY FROM SAID MOUNTING MEANS, AN ANNULAR MEMBER INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF SPACED NAILING ELEMENTS ADAPTED TO PENETRATE AND THEREBY BECOME SECURED TO SAID THREADED ELEMENTS AND INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF SPACED STRUCK SECTIONS WHICH ARE OFFSET FROM THE PLANE OF SAID ANNULAR MEMBER, AND A HEEL HAVING A THREADED SOCKET WHICH RECEIVES SAID THREADED PROJECTION AND IS ADAPTED TO LOCKINGLY ENGAGE WITH SAID OFFSET PORTIONS AND SAID HEEL IS FULLY THREADED ONTO SAID PROJECTION. 